 | Girl walks into the forest Author: Roux, Madeleine | |
| Price: $14.99 | ||
Summary:
The beautiful Valla travels through dangerous Gottyar Wood to get to Count Leonid's castle, but her face is torn to shreds en route and the Count is unhappy.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (05/15/25)
School Library Journal (07/03/25)
Booklist (+) (06/01/25)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/06/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 06/01/2025 *Starred Review* A girl walks into the forest, but something much different walks out in Roux’s latest offering, a genre-blending folk horror that follows Valla, who loses her physical beauty and finds her true self in exchange. Chosen to wed wealthy Count Leonid based only on her portrait, intrepid Valla sets off toward her fate in the unforgiving and dangerous Gottyar Wood. It doesn’t take long for the forest to lash out, though, and an altercation leaves her previously beautiful face—the one she was depending on for survival—marred and hideous. Without her beauty, the count is uninterested, and Valla realizes that no one is coming to save her but herself. This dark and foreboding mash-up is rife with shadowy secrets and scary European fairy-tale touches; Valla’s fate is inextricably linked with the legendary and fierce Baba Yaga. Readers will find themselves pulled down into the darkness of the Gottyar with Valla as she finds the bravery and determination it takes any young girl to f ind her true self in a world set up to reward only what can be seen on the surface. Excellent character development, unsettling and atmospheric world building, and numerous but well-woven folklore references combine for a deeply suspenseful, darkly vengeful tale of self-discovery. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.
